Saudi Arabia tightens scrutiny of UAE-bound money transfers

Saudi Arabia is treating financial transfers to the UAE with the extra scrutiny generally applied to countries suspected of money laundering.

The Saudi central bank notified key banks earlier this year to apply the additional checks, Reuters reports, three people with direct knowledge of the policy and six who said transfers to the UAE have been delayed or returned.

The Saudi central bank said there are “no direct restrictions on specific countries, while a UAE official said the government had received no reports of unusual transfer delays.

One Saudi insider told the news agency that the measures are a “subtle message” to Abu Dhabi amid widening tensions between the two Gulf powers.